HERE are four country boys with a very clear message for Canberra – and it’s all about them being mad about the Murray Darling.
Because that’s what has united Doug Fehring, Geoff Kendell, Lindsay Schultz and Mal Johnson to try to raise at least $20,000 for children’s charity Variety.
With their (very) secondhand Nissan Patrol they have christened – yes, you guessed it – Murray Darling Madness.
Which will roar into life for the annual Variety Bash at Swan Hill on August 16 with the goal, secondhand engine notwithstanding, of arriving at Airlie Beach in Queensland eight days later and hopefully at least $20,000 better off.
Coming from northern Victoria the boys know all about a bash.
Their farms and/or homes were flooded in 2012 and copped it again in 2022 and they’ve had to stand by and watch – as they put it themselves – the federal government and the Murray Darling Basin Authority drain the lifeblood out of the irrigation industry.
They agree it’s that commitment to agriculture and water which, during their lives, has seen the four mates go down many different paths.
They just didn’t think these paths would take them to a 1988 Nissan Patrol, the open road and the Variety Bash.
It had always been a goal of Doug’s to join the bash and give something back to sick and special-needs kids.
“I saw the Patrol advertised in Swan Hill and seeing it was in our backyard I thought I really want to do this. It was just a matter of who would be good fun to go with,” Doug said.
He said team selection might have been a challenge but naming the car was easy – all four had always had a keen interest in the impacts of the basin plan on the farming community so the Patrol literally named itself.
“We are all water warriors and have been advocating for our environment, the community and a farmer’s right to irrigate and produce staple foods ever since it became very clear to us the negative impacts the basin plan was having on the southern basin,” Doug said.
“We do know the Bash is certainly not political but we are looking at it as an opportunity to be able to educate the wider public on what is really happening in our area – while raising some much-needed funds.”
Lindsay chimed in with his comments as well.
“There is a lot of misinformation and propaganda being put out there, especially from government departments, and we want to take this as a chance to correct some of the narrative,” Lindsay said.
Mal said as well as raising money he was hoping to be able to emphasise some of the environmental damage the plan was inflicting on the rivers and bush in his own backyard.
“You can’t take water away, change the way the whole system is run, and not have major impacts on the community and the environment,” Mal said.
Like Doug, Geoff had also always wanted to join the Bash and was inspired this time by previous participants.
“It’s a privilege to be in a position to give something back and help make kids’ lives a little better – and to put a smile on their faces is priceless,” Geoff said.
“Young kids in isolated rural communities do it particularly hard.
“And, while we are travelling through we will have an opportunity to educate other communities about what is happening to ours since the Murray Darling Basin Plan came in.”
Their all-but-pensioned-off Patrol has already clocked a significant 350,000km and, being a 1988 model, it does lack a few mod-cons, but the boys from the Murray are determined to not let that stop them.
And Doug has already downloaded a trip meter app to help with navigation.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” Doug said with a laugh.
“God knows where, or how, we will end up.”
Lindsay intends to hold a fundraising event at the Benjeroop Hall in the next month or so and anyone looking to support the boys can jump onto Google to find the team under car 33, Murray Darling Madness.
The entry fee is $5000.
The Variety Bash is a children’s charity to help kids living with disability and illness.
It provides support through providing grants, running programs to educate and empower children falling through the cracks, and holding kids’ events to bring joy, light and laughter to children in need and their families.
So get onto Google, find car 33, Murray Darling Madness, and dig deep to help the boys help others – and raise awareness about the vital irrigation industry.
